Assembling teddy

I measure from beneath the neck joint down along the seam to place the arms ...

I don't have a pic of the legs, but to place those I use a long sturdy doll needle which I insert where the body pieces meet at the base of the body, then I hook a fabric tape measure over it and measure along the seam to where I want to place the legs, mark the spot with my awl and then assemble.

To determine where I want to place the limbs I first hold the bear's body up with one hand (head attached) and then take one arm and hold the cotter pin/bolt against the body at the point I think it will suit the bear best ... then I keep my thumb nail at that point and measure down from the base of the neck joint to see how many cms before marking the spot with my awl. Then I repeat the measurement for the other arm, this means they are always level.

To site the legs, I simply turn the body upside down and repeat the process on one of the side body seams using one of the legs to establish the measurement needed, then I measure from the doll needle and use an awl to mark the position of the second leg using that measurement.

I prefer to site my leg joint holes slightly to the back of the side seam, the arm holes can be either side of the seam depending on the look I am aiming for ...

This little chap has his arm hole joints slightly behind the side seam to create a relaxed, 'hanging down' arm.

And 'Peppercorn' has his arm hole joints a little in front of the side seam so that his arms sit comfortably in his lap.

This is a pic of one of my big bears 'bottom up' just before I close one of the seams on his leg. the leg joint holes were sited slightly behind the side seam ...stand, but he does anyway! 

Incidentally, I never pierce the actual seams because I don't want to weaken the integrity of the seam stitching.

As you can see from this pic, I aim to have the bear sitting comfortably on his bottom, rather than perching on the tops of his legs.

Jointing in this way can help the bear stand without a wobble. This little bear wasn't deliberately designed to stand, but he is nice and steady on his feet.

I think successful jointing is one of the most difficult elements of bearcrafting to get right because any problems in the overall pattern design will usually be highlighted when the bear is jointed.